By Rob Krider

Racerboy

The National Auto Sport Association (NASA) Western Endurance Racing Championship (WERC) held Round 5 at Buttonwillow Raceway Park. Drivers punished their brakes in the midst of a dark three hour on-track battle. This was the last round before the championship finale during the 25 Hours of Thunderhill in December. Check out the coverage at Jalopnik. Photo by Vanhap Motorsports Photography.

By Rob Krider

Racerboy

The National Auto Sport Association (NASA) held their fifth National Championships at Miller Motorsports Park near Salt Lake City, Utah. Over 350 drivers raced for glory and over 1.1 million dollars in prizes during the event. You can see photos of all of the 2010 NASA National Champions at Jalopnik. If you want to check out lap times and official results click here.

By Rob Krider

Racerboy

The National Auto Sport Association (NASA) held Round 4 of its Western Endurace Racing Championship (WERC) at Thunderhill Raceway in Northern California. Hoods were blown off, champagne was sprayed and you can see the podium results (and carnage) at Jalopnik. Photography by Head-On Photos.

By David Wallens

Grassroots Motorsports

Every now and then you have to get out and play. I spent this past weekend with NASA’s Southeast region at Georgia’s Roebling Road Raceway. I was offered a ride, so I left the CRX at home. Yes, I spent most of the weekend in a pink BMW. Hey, it’s better than doing yard work. No matter what your experience, if you have ever wanted to get on track check out a NASA event. I promise that they’ll get you hooked.

By Rob Krider

Racerboy

The first event of National Auto Sport Association’s (NASA) Western Endurance Racing Championship (WERC) was held last weekend at Buttonwillow Raceway in Southern California. The series showcases six different classes and hard fought battles as teams race into the night in an enduro format with multiple driver swaps and fuel stops. The culmination of the multiple race series ends in December during NASA’s 25 Hours of Thunderhill. See the full write up and results from NASA’s first Western Endurance Racing Championship event of 2010 at Jalopnik.

By David Wallens

Grassroots Motorsports

All work and no play makes David a dull boy, and soon I’m heading to a NASA track event. Ever wanted to get on track but didn’t know the first step to take? Their HPDE program is a fantastic way to get involved. Plus it’s fun, too. You can learn more about my low-buck track car at Grassroots Motorsports

By Dan Strohl

Hemmings

Thanks to TA’s recent discovery of the NASA Images photo archive, I recently goofed off for an entire day found an AMC Spirit variant I’d never come across before: the Stirling-engined Spirit. Whaaa???

Yes, Stirling engines are theoretically the most efficient engine yet invented. They’re technically external combustion, and were pretty much restricted to high school physics class experiments until the late 1970s, when the Department of Energy told NASA to start figuring out how to reduce our dependence on foreign oil.

NASA, which was apparently doing some research into Stirling engines at the time, decided to try fitting one into an automobile. To do that, they formed a joint research group that included AM General, which in those days was known mostly for building military vehicles and trucks for the post office and for raking in metric tons of cash for AMC. Continue reading at Hemmings

As someone in a deadline business, I know how an impending due date can kick a project into high gear. Since last fall, my CRX has more or less slept in an auto cocoon in my driveway. While on the road two weeks ago, I decided to give myself a deadline: NASA’s track event at Savannah’s Roebling Road Raceway May 17-18.

During a sub-two-week build the CRX got a full Progress coil-over suspension, fresh brakes and a new Momo wheel–basically we replaced the car’s trouble spots. The Rota wheels and Nitto tires came from my Miata. Well, despite the 202,000 miles showing on the odometer the car never missed a beat this past weekend. We drove up and back from Florida and ran five 20-minute track sessions. I never had to add oil, never had to bleed the brakes, and never even had to rotate the tires. So, for those of you with projects that have stalled, summer is here–get out there and go have some fun.

One of the best things about racing is the privilege and the responsibility of "giving back." The way racers give back is by helping to teach new drivers in such a way that they will enjoy their experience. The best way, as in any sport, is to learn to walk before you run–but believe me, in racing there isn’t a whole lot that feels like walking. And as with any sport, new drivers will  have a lot of questions, and many will have doubts. Is my car  fast enough? Will I screw up and crash? What if an instructor ask me to do something I don’t think I’m ready for? These and many other questions tend to go right out the window once you get your feet wet.

The day you start, a lot of things will fall into place, and it’ll become clear that no one’s ever going to ask you to do something you can’t handle. One of the best things about getting started in  High Performance Driving Events (HPDE) is that any car will work fine–there’s no need for a high-dollar race car to get started. In retrospect, I remember  what a great feeling it was when I first began getting the hang of things and found myself passing high-dollar cars with my budget-built ones. Even though I’ve owned Shelbys and Vipers, I’ve become more fond of driving my 1st-generation  RX7′s than anything else. Very affordable, easy to build and WOW are they fast and handle like they’re on rails: one of the best race cars for the buck that money can buy (or build).

So as you can see, you don’t need much. So let’s get started on putting you and your ride on some of America’s most famous road courses! Before you know it, you will be instructing someone and giving back. Continue reading…

Continue reading "Getting Started In Racing The Right Way on a Budget" »

We’re still adding fresh talent to the CarDomain blog. And the latest batch of writers is pretty elite group.

First up is Rich Truesdell, the Editorial Director of Automotive Traveler. Rich currently contributes to more than twenty automotive publications. He’s also an AMC nut, and you can see his 1968 Rogue on CarDomain. If you’ve missed any of Rich’s first blogs, you can read them all here.

Then there’s Jason Siu, the former editor of Modified Magazine and current Editor-in-Chief of Tunerzine.com. Jason has been pretty slammed writing a book on the Honda B-series motor, but he promises to get on a regular schedule with us soon. He has two blogs in the can, with more to follow.

You may remember Gary Faules’ amazing Shelby GT350 that I featured in the blog a few months back. Gary has won the Timex 12 Hours Of Thunderhill three times in a row. He has also been a race instructor for many years, and is currently the Mentor Director for NASA, where he helps bring new students into the world of competition racing. Gary is pretty busy between running his business and racing cars, but he kindly agreed to blog for us when he has time. His first blog, published today, is on street racing–be sure to check it out.